


Lifeline

by Theseblankpages



Category: Scream (TV)
Genre: Audrey Jensen - Freeform, Emma Duval - Freeform, Emma/Audrey main pairing, Emrey, F/F, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Love, Love Confessions, Mentions of Emma's Duval/Kieran Wilcox, Minor Audrey Jensen/ Gina McLane, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-09-19 22:53:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9464084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theseblankpages/pseuds/Theseblankpages
Summary: Audrey Jensen is scared of two things:Her feelings,and her mind.Alt. title: Scream Season 3Emrey ficWill be updated as I can(Formerly I Won’t Let Go of You)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after the halloween special and is kind of a substitute for Season 3 since it's nonexistent ~~yet~~.

No sleep. That was a normal thing, nowadays. Something Audrey was used to. The only time she did sleep was when she felt safe. When she was with Emma. Now, don't misunderstand here. It wasn't like Audrey wasn't safe. She was, as far as she knew. There were no killers any more, with Kieran and Piper both gone. But the thing was, she didn't feel like she was safe. And that scared her. She was constantly paranoid. She always had to check and double check everything and everyone to make sure it was, indeed safe. Safe for her, safe for her father. Safe for her friends. She was always going over things in her head- scenarios where things could possibly go wrong, and how to escape in case they did. Her friends were something she /constantly/ worried about. She was always checking up on them and checking her messages and calls waiting for something from "unknown number". The no sleep thing was because she was afraid someone or something would sneak into her room and plant something again or come and attack her in her sleep. No sleep was... normal.

The night sky was dark- almost black. There were no stars in sight, but the moon shone dimly in the distance.

Audrey's lamp was also emitting a faint glow, sitting on her desk across the room. The lightbulb in it was about to go out, but Audrey didn't really mind. She'd go get a new one after it had burned out completely. The only thing she really cared about was it working for a small amount of time. To keep her company overnight until she did eventually fall asleep. If she did fall asleep, that is.

Silence was a nice accompanist as well... Most of the time. Sometimes it helped Audrey think too much. She thought about her mistakes, her failures. Bringing Piper to Lakewood, allowing Kieran to blackmail her afterwards. Not telling Emma about any of it on time. She still blamed herself for too much of what happened, but she couldn't help it. She felt responsible. She couldn't help but feel like if she hadn't brought Piper here, none of that would've happened. No matter how many times everyone insisted that she didn't kill her friends, that she didn't kill Rachel... She couldn't forgive herself. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to look in the mirror and _not_ see a killer. That was the only thing she saw. Whenever she looked at Emma, she could remember the look of disappointment, of resentment, of hatred. She couldn't forget that. She couldn't forget how it felt to look into her eyes and see what she felt for herself. She couldn't forget Emma shoving her into the lockers and saying _"I blame you"_ There wasn't a day where she didn't think about that. No matter how many times she called Emma crying, apologizing over and over... No matter how many times Emma shushed her, promising she forgave her, speaking calming words. Audrey could never forgive herself. And her mistakes tormented her endlessly. Hardly anything provided a relief. Emma did, always. But that didn't matter. Audrey was with Gina now. And Emma seemed content being by herself for now. And that's what mattered. Audrey did love Gina- she did. But she couldn't deny the tightness in her chest when Emma smiled, or when she spoke in that soft, calming voice whenever Audrey was panicking. Or when Audrey pulled Emma into her chest when the other girl was the one who needed help. When she was the one who was panicking. That closeness caused Audrey's heart to leap out of her chest. There was no denying it- no matter how hard she tried. She'd resorted to ignoring it and focusing instead on Gina and their relationship. She was trying her hardest to fix the problems that she'd caused and the walls that Gina told her she'd put up. She was trying her hardest to make it better. To make this relationship good enough for Gina. It was proving to be difficult, and she'd had to hang out with Emma less and less. But perhaps that was a good thing. Maybe it's what needed to happen. She could still call of course, and Audrey had explained that she needed to spend more time with her girlfriend, instead of with her friends. Emma understood. They still hung out sometimes, just not quite as often. To her father's dismay, however. He didn't particularly enjoy Gina. He'd expressed that, too, but left it as it was, allowing Audrey to make her own choices so long as she was safe and smart. Audrey was thankful for that. 

Even though she was aware that her father didn't approve of her girlfriend, he was kind to her. And supportive of Audrey's choices. He had been happy before Gina and Audrey were dating, when Audrey came home and happily announced that she was going on a date with Emma, and upset when she had returned from the movies the next week extremely upset because it hadn't gone as planned. Emma had told her that she felt like they should just stay friends, at least for now. And as those words came out of her mouth, Audrey's heart had shattered. She had nodded, told her that she agreed (which was a lie), and driven Emma home. As soon as she saw that the blonde was inside her house, tears flooded her eyes and she quickly put her Volvo into reverse and backed out of the driveway. She had cried the whole way back home, and drove around a while to give time to compose herself before she went and saw her father. She knew he would want to hear all of what happened, that he'd want to know how it went. She needed time to process it first. She must have sat in the driveway of her house for half an hour, drying her tears and taking heaving breaths before opening the car door and getting out. Coping with her feelings after the fact was what was really difficult. She isolated herself for about a week, and then decided that was too much. She went back to normal, and blocked out the feelings for Emma. She allowed herself to fall for Gina, her manager at work. Audrey asked her out, and Gina had accepted. They got on well, and quickly afterward, Audrey asked her to be her girlfriend. Gina accepted again. They were happy together, and it got easier for Audrey to ignore the feelings for Emma constantly looming in the background. They never went away, though. They never left her alone. 

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her phone buzzing next to her. A quick glance at the screen told her that Emma was calling. The clock read 2:27 AM. What could she be calling about this late? What could she possibly need at this hour? Audrey's mind automatically went to every bad possibility, of course, and she picked up her phone, pressing the 'answer' button and holding it to her ear. 

"Hello?" Audrey said quietly, trying to keep her volume somewhere between being able to be heard and being quiet enough to keep from waking her dad. 

"Audrey," Emma's voice came out of the speaker next to Audrey's head. "You're okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Audrey breathed, "What's going on?" 

"Audrey, I want you to look outside your window right now and tell me what you see."

"What? Why? What's happening, Em?" Audrey got up out of her bed and walked slowly toward her window, though, waiting for a response from Emma. 

"Just do it, Audrey, please." 

She made it to the window, and looked out over the dark street. That was strange, she thought. There were no street lights on. It was still outside. There was no movement. Her breath fogged the glass when she leaned in to look closer, and it blurred her vision. She noticed a sudden white flash in the corner of her eye and her vision snapped toward it. What she saw made her gasp, and her heart leaped into her throat. What she saw made her blood run cold and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. What she saw, was the killer. Someone wearing the killer's mask- Brandon James' mask. Standing in Audrey's yard, staring up at her. "Oh, my god." Audrey whispered. "Emma what the hell is going on?" She didn't take her eyes off the figure standing in the grass below her for a second. "I don't know, Audrey. I just got a call and it woke me up... And I answered, and the person said 'There's something important here for you,' and hung up. And then a text from the same number, but it was just a gif.. of your front door, and so I freaked out, and I called you because I didn't know what was going on, and-" Emma stopped when Audrey interrupted her.

"Shhhh, Em, it's alright. I'm okay... Right now anyway." It was quiet for a bit, and Audrey watched as the person in her yard looked back at her, raised one hand, and waved. 

"Audrey, the voice of the person who called... sounded exactly like Piper and Kieran. The same voice changer was being used I guess, I don't know, I just- I'm so scared." Emma said quietly. 

"I know, it'll be alright," Audrey replied, more telling herself then Emma. The figure in her yard waved again, pointed at her doorstep, then turned and started down the street. Audrey's breath caught in her throat, and she stayed silent. She took a few minutes, watching the person walk down the street and out of sight. Then she walked slowly downstairs to her front door, and opened it cautiously. She was filled with dread and she pressed her phone to her ear harder. There, lying on the step in front of her, was a box. A deceptively innocent looking box at that; but Audrey knew better. She knew that whatever was in that box, it definitely wasn't innocent. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! Sorry it's coming out so late, like I said... no computer yet lol.

Audrey inhaled sharply, and darted out onto the porch. Nothing jumped on her or attacked her, so she quickly reached out and grabbed ahold of the small box. It was dark, and her breathing was getting heavier, but she took a second to look around before rushing back inside and closing the door tightly behind her. 

"Audrey?" Emma's voice asked from beside her ear. "Audrey, talk to me- what's happening?"

"I'm okay, I just-" Audrey rushed to the window looking out at the front lawn and peeked outside. There was nothing. Nothing that she saw, anyway. "Em, there's a box." She glanced down at the small package she had been clutching to her chest. It was close to the size of the box that her new camera had come in, but slightly bigger. She could hold it in one hand with no trouble, but it was heavy. The fact that it was heavy terrified her. Of course, it would terrify her if it weren't heavy, too. 

"What?? Do you want me to come to your house? Don't open it, Audrey." Emma's voice came through the speaker again.

"No- no, do not leave your house. Stay inside. God only knows where that creep is." Audrey looked out the window again- still nothing. Maybe whoever it was did leave. "Don't worry about me, Em, my dad's home and I think they left."

"I'm going to worry, Audrey. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But don't leave your house. Stay inside- stay safe."

Another glance outside ensured Audrey that whoever it was that was doing this, they seemed to be gone. _Seemed to be._ The feeling in the pit of her stomach made her think otherwise, but she felt that way often at night. She practically ran upstairs, the box still in hand. She didn't bother to turn off any of the lamps she'd turned on- that would make her feel less safe than she already did. She knew whoever it was probably wasn't inside, because if they were she'd probably be more than aware of it. Plus, they wouldn't kill her if they'd left this box. . .

"Do not open that box, Audrey. You don't know what's in there." It was as if Emma had read her mind. 

"Only one way to find out, Em."

"Wait till someone's with you-"

"No. Whoever this is, they wanted me to get this. Or you- or both of us. I'm opening it."

She grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk and managed to get the thick layers of tape off with them, and then took deep breaths to calm herself before she opened this. What was in it could end what little safety she'd found in the past month. 

"If I scream and then don't make any other noise, call the police." Audrey said, only half joking. 

"Audrey, don't even say that." Emma replied almost angrily. Audrey made a face in response and then pulled back the flaps of the box. There, wrapped in paper, was a small video camera. 

"Shit..." Audrey whispered, "Em, its a camera." Silence on the other line, and then, 

"So... What?"

"Hang on."

Audrey picked it up put of the box, surprised at it's weight even though it was slightly older. There was a small note shoved underneath it, with the writing, 'Gotcha!' She turned on the camera, and opened the only video saved on it. Taking a deep breath, she pressed play. At first, the screen was almost completely dark, and the sound was extremely quiet. Suddenly there was a flash of light, and then Audrey came into view. And Emma. It was them, on murder island. They were walking, talking, laughing. The video cut, and there in the frame was a jail cell. The person holding the camera also had keys in hand, and they unlocked the cell and pulled open the door. The camera angle snapped upward, and standing in the shot was Kieran. He was in an orange jumpsuit. He said,

"Alright, You kept your word. So, you're going to tell me who you are?" There was silence, and then the person holding the camera swung a knife at him, slicing his throat from ear to ear. Kieran dropped to the ground, and the screen went black. The audio was still playing, and Audrey could only hear Kieran gurgling through his own blood. It then showed Kieran slowly trying to reach for a gun on the floor. Whoever was holding the camera pinned him down, pulls out the knife they'd sliced his neck open with, and jams it into the back of Kieran's neck. All movement ceased. The killer admired their work for a moment, and the screen went black again. The shot came back up, and it was the killer holding the bloody knife used to slaughter Kieran, throwing it in a hole and tossing dirt over it. They backed up slowly, and Emma's house came into view. The angle moved and zoomed to show her in her room. Then it snapped around, showing someone in black clothing wearing Brandon James' mask. They waved at the camera, and the video ended. Audrey's blood ran cold. She knew that whatever this was would end her feeling of safety. She knew suddenly that she was in possession of _more_ incriminating evidence. _Fuck._ She dropped the camera onto her bed, and ran to her window. There still was nothing there, but her heart was in her throat.

"Em, look out your window really quick," she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"What? Why?? Audrey, what was on that camera?" Emma replied. She sounded as panicked as Audrey felt. Audrey didn't bother to answer Emma's question, and there was shuffling on the other line as Emma went to look out the window. It was eerily quiet, and Audrey's eyes darted around her yard. There wasn't anything there. There was nothing, nobody. No sign of anything strange happening at all. It was as if the town had no idea the things that were going on right now. As if nothing had changed, and everything was peaceful, as it had been almost two years ago.

"There's nothing here, Auds. What's happening?? Talk to me."

Audrey opened her lips to speak, but no sound came out. Her vocal chords were gripped by fear, muted. She couldn't say anything. The images she'd seen on that screen. . . They reminded her of her mistakes. They taunted her, made her insanely aware of the fact that she was not safe. She felt like the sense of ease she'd somehow found was all fake. That she never should've let her guard down. That she could never get away from the horrible things that had happened. In that moment, it hit her that she may never escape the horror that is Lakewood. Murderville. Her own personal hell had been created here, in the place where she'd grown up. And it struck her all at once. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak again. No words came out, but instead a sob escaped her lips. Her tears broke past the dam that her eyelids had formed and ran down her cheeks. This was the first time in a while that she'd cried. She hated crying, the ugly sounds and faces that came along with it. The feeling of her throat tightening up and the hot tears running down her face, making her cheeks wet and sticky. It was horrible.

"Em . . ." She choked out, trying desperately to keep her voice from cracking. "Em, we're not safe."

"Audrey, _please_ talk to me. Please."

Audrey explained the things that were on the camera whilst checking out her window and over shoulder. Most of her words were forced out, and she couldn't keep herself from sobbing at more than one point. When she was finished describing the horrid things that she had seen on that screen, there was a prolonged silence.

"Oh my God." Emma said quietly. "That explains all the calls on the island, all the writing on the walls. There was someone there with us." 

"Emma, we never escaped this. We've been being watched this _whole_ damn time." It was quiet again. The situation sunk in for a minute, and Audrey bolted back to her bed as soon as she was at least partially sure that there was nobody outside. She supposed there was no way to really be sure, and she insisted that Emma get back in bed since there wasn't anyone in her yard either. Audrey pulled her blankets up to her chin and kept her phone plastered to her ear. She felt like a child, hiding from the monsters in her closet again, but now they were real. And they were more terrifying than she remembered. She stayed like this, curled in a ball talking to Emma quietly until the sun started to come up. But it didn't bring the sense of safety it did when she was small. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as she could the next morning, Audrey scooped up her keys from the end table downstairs and rushed out the door. She left a note, and had the camera from the previous night stashed in her bag. She had to bring it to Emma. The other girl _had_ to see it. There was no way whatsoever that Audrey was going to keep anything from Emma this time. Not after what happened last year. No way.

She drove straight to Emma's house, trying to make sure that she wasn't being followed. Although, she probably wouldn't be able to tell if she was. The thought of being watched still send chills down her spine. She hated the fact that this was _still_ going on. As she pulled into the driveway of the Duval's home, she took deep breaths. No panicking. Not now. No. Getting out of her Volvo, she stalked up to the door and knocked sharply three times. Maggie came to the door, and she looked surprised that Audrey was standing there in the threshold. Audrey smiled as nicely as she could with how nervous she felt. 

"Hey, Mrs. Duval. How're you?" she said, still holding the smile on her face. Maggie smiled back, still seeming shocked that Audrey was there. Maybe it had been too long since she'd visited.

"I'm good, Audrey. How're you? Are you here to see Emma?" Maggie asked. Audrey nodded in reply.

"I'm okay. And yeah, I'm here for Em. I figured she'd told you I was coming."

"No, she didn't. I don't think she's quite out of bed yet. Come inside, she'll be in her room."

Audrey thanked Emma's mother, and walked upstairs to Emma's bedroom door. She knocked softly three times. There was shuffling, and then the door opened to reveal a tired looking Emma Duval, still in her pajamas and her hair in a mess. The sight of her brought a slight sense of relief, and Audrey grinned at the blonde girl standing in front of her. Emma smiled back sleepily.

"I fell asleep and forgot to tell my mom you were on your way . . . sorry." she said quietly. Audrey smiled again. 

"It's okay, Em. Don't worry about it, you needed some sleep." She stated, and Emma stepped aside to let the shorter girl into her room. The door closed behind Audrey, and she immediately took the camera out of her bag and pulled up the video. As Emma watched, the look on her face grew more and more horrified. Audrey knew exactly how she felt. Like the small bit of safety that was left had been stripped away. As soon as the video ended, Emma looked at Audrey. She didn't say anything, but Audrey understood exactly what was going through her mind. The shorter girl outstretched her arms, and Emma accepted the hug gratefully.

"We'll be okay, Em. We have to be." Audrey said quietly, and Emma nodded. She still didn't say a word. They stood this way for around five minutes, holding each other close, trying desperately to feel safe despite what they'd just watched. They were never safe, it had just been revealed. They had never escaped this hell. They had never _really_ escaped Piper's insanity. And that was horrifying. How many more people had to die? How many more of their friends had to be murdered before this was finally over? The way this was looking, the few that remained of the Lakewood Six weren't going to make it.

Emma decided to run through the bathroom and get ready for the day, and Audrey waited for her. The only noise was Emma rustling around in the bathroom, putting on clothes and makeup and whatever else she did in the mornings. Audrey didn't know any more. Once she came out, they decided to go and find the knife that had been buried in the yard. They made their way out to Emma's back yard, walking to the spot that the camera had shown. The grass there had sure enough been torn up and there was a bare spot, with loose dirt. There was definitely something buried there. They looked at each other again, the tension in the air becoming evident. They were both terrified. Audrey went to the small playground they'd played on as children and found the little toy shovel underneath it. Their child selves had no idea that this thing would be used to dig up a killer's knife buried just feet away from the place where they played. After about a minute of digging, the knife surfaced. The blood was still there, caked on with mud and dried up. They didn't dare touch it with their bare hands, so Emma went inside and grabbed a kitchen towel.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with this?" Audrey asked, and Emma stared at the knife held in her hand.

"I . . . don't know." She said. Her voice was close to a whisper. That made two of them. Audrey took the towel-wrapped weapon and shoved it in her bag.

"We're taking it somewhere else. Hopefully it won't turn back up." She said.

They got in Audrey's car after saying goodbye to Emma's mother, and they drove for what must've been miles. After Audrey decided that they were far enough out of town, she stopped and pulled the knife out of her bag. She got out of the car and Emma followed, and the two of them walked into the trees by the side of the road. In a tiny clearing, Audrey dug a hole and placed the knife in it, covering it with the soft earth that she had dug up and pressing it down firmly.

"There." Was the only thing she said.

"Audrey, I don't like this. I don't like any of it, trust me. Who the hell is doing this now?" Emma asked, her voice getting louder with every word she spoke. Audrey's mind went blank, and she pulled Emma into another hug.

"I don't know Em, but we're gonna be okay," she said. Audrey decided in this moment that she wasn't going to let anything happen to Emma Duval. That if anything happened to any of them, it wouldn't be her. Emma was going to get out of this safely. Even if that meant that Audrey had to give herself up.


	3. Chapter 3

Shallow breathing is what Audrey woke up to- calm, even breaths. Her eyes opened slowly and she immediately was greeted by long red hair and soft pale skin. The sight brought a nice feeling and a sense of familiarity and she closed her eyes again. The morning sunlight was streaming through her bedroom window and she could still see it through her eyelids. The comfort of her bed was slowly pulling her back to sleep, but her eyes jerked back open when the girl next to her rolled over and wrapped her arms around Audrey's torso. Audrey took a deep breath and looked toward the window. The light coming through was warm, and it made Audrey feel comfortable. She was comfortable, and felt peaceful; but she knew that the safe feeling she had was a lie.

She was startled by her phone vibrating on her nightstand, and she leaned over to pick it up. The caller ID read "Noah" and Audrey sighed. The clock said 6:40 and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Class was in less than half an hour. She quickly answered and held the phone up to her ear.

"I know, I'm late, I know. I'm on my way, I swear. I woke up late, I'm coming." Were the words that came out of her mouth as she sat up, allowing Gina to roll off of her. 

"Alright, I was just making sure you weren't dead or something." Noah said, and Audrey hung up without saying anything else. She swung her feet off the side of her mattress and she could feel Gina's glare boring into her back.

"Sorry, Sorry, babe, I'm late for school." Audrey said, and she stood up. Gina stood as well, grabbing her clothes off of Audrey's dresser and pulling on her sweatshirt. Audrey guessed she'd decided to go home, which was probably a good thing, in case her dad decided to come home for lunch. It probably wouldn't be good if he found Gina in Audrey's room when he hadn't previously known about it. There was a long silence while Audrey put clothes on, and then she turned to her girlfriend and wrapped her in a hug. 

"Babe, don't be upset..." She said quietly, adopting a silly, almost whiny tone in her voice. She knew if she made Gina laugh, she'd be off the hook. 

"I just wasn't ready to get up," Gina said shortly, and Audrey pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

"I know, but I'll see you at work later, okay?" The short-haired girl replied, and she kissed her girlfriend on the cheek again. "Come on... Don't be all grumpy all day."

Gina didn't budge, and Audrey knew she had to leave, but she really didn't want to leave Gina feeling upset all day. She pulled away from their embrace and grabbed hold of the redhead's hand. 

"I'll . . . buy you dinner?" She phrased it like a question. Gina shrugged, but smiled nonetheless. That had done it. Audrey did a little victory dance of sorts and then grabbed her keys. Gina was grinning now, and Audrey smiled back. God, how had she gotten so lucky? They walked out the door together, and Gina drove away first.

The whole way to school, Audrey's thoughts were filled with the tape she had been mailed, and what school was going to be like today now that she and Emma were aware that they _still_ weren't safe.

_________________________________________________________

After school, Audrey waved 'bye' to her friends and got into her car. She then stopped and texted her dad to make sure he knew she wasn't going to be at home, and she ran to her house to change into her work clothes. On her way in the door, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Gina. She answered almost immediately with a "hello?"

"Hey, I'm short on time, so I'm just gonna pick something up and then you and I can eat in the back before my shift starts- is that okay?" She asked, hoping that the answer would be yes. 

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm already here, Joseph is ready for you to get here so he can leave." Gina replied. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"Well, he'd better get comfortable, because there's still forty-five minutes before my shift starts," she said while pulling a black t-shirt and her vest out of her closet. 

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute," Gina said, and her voice was followed by a loud clang that Audrey assumed was Joseph dropping something, because there was a rather high-pitched scream right after. "And I have to go save Joseph from the popcorn machine again."

"Okay, I love you." Audrey said, chuckling lightly. 

"Love you too." and Gina hung up.

Once Audrey got to the theater, she was met immediately by Joseph insisting that his shift was over, and Audrey stubbornly disagreed, and they argued for almost ten minutes before she got tired of it and just pushed past him toward the back room. 

Audrey and Gina were eating and talking about their day when Audrey's phone suddenly rang in her pocket. A glance at the screen told her that it was Emma calling, and even though she wanted to answer, she opted not to. She silenced her phone, put it down on the little break room table, and continued listening to Gina explain how much she hated her college classes. 

After Gina had gone home and the last screening had finally started, and Audrey was supposed to start cleaning up the equipment, she picked up her phone and called Emma back instead. Whatever she had called about had to have been important, because Emma Duval almost never called. She always texted, if she could. As soon as Emma answered, Audrey knew something wasn't right. 

"Audrey." Was the first thing out of Emma's mouth. 

"Em, what's going on? I'm at work- I couldn't answer earlier." Audrey only slightly lied. She was, in fact, at work; but she could've answered earlier. That wasn't important right now, though. She was getting increasingly worried about Emma with every passing second. 

"I just- I just was expecting you to answer and when you didn't I freaked out a little, I guess. With all this that's happening, you know. 

"Yeah, I know. The last screening's just started, so I have a little bit of a break. Was there something you needed, when you called?"

"Actually, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow- just us. No freaky serial killer stuff."

Audrey stopped for a second. Just them, nobody else. No distractions, nothing to keep her from losing herself in Emma Duval. It sounded nice, but scared her. She had a girlfriend- a girlfriend she loved. She couldn't keep thinking about Emma like this. But she couldn't help herself. 

"Yeah, sure, yeah. I don't have work tomorrow- I'm off, so there shouldn't be a problem." She found herself smiling a little. She was hanging out with Emma again- finally. There _shouldn't be_ any problems that arise. But that doesn't mean much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I was super busy with work last week and didn't have any time to write... And sorry about how short it is too. My writers block is coming back and I'm trying my hardest to combat it! I already have an idea of what's going to happen towards the end of the fic, but I'm not sure how to get there yet . . . I'm working on it though!!


	4. Chapter 4

Audrey was nervous. She was nervous for this- hanging out with Emma. They hadn't hardly hung out since murder island. At least, not alone. They'd gone places in groups with their other friends, but other than that they'd only been together during school. Gina didn't like Audrey being around Emma, and she expressed that even after Audrey explained to her that they didn't need to compete. As Audrey pulled on her shoes, she kept thinking, 'maybe this isn't a good idea.' But with the things happening right now, concern for Emma and their friendship won over and Audrey grabbed her phone to let Emma know she was on the way. As soon as she typed the message out and hit 'send,' her phone started ringing in her hand. The caller ID read 'Gina.' Lovely, she thought, and pressed 'answer.'

 

"Hello?" She said into the speaker, and was greeted by her girlfriend's voice on the other line. 

 

"Audrey," Gina spoke, "I noticed that you're off tonight."

 

"Uh, yeah, I was scheduled off. You didn't know that?" Audrey replied. She was only a little confused. Gina often did the schedules months in advance and forgot. 

 

"I did, but I guess I forgot. So what're you doing then?" Audrey flinched. She was hoping that question wouldn't come up. 

 

"I'm actually supposed to go hang out with Emma tonight," fuck it, right? She needed to see her friend- regardless of what her girlfriend thought. 

 

"Oh," was what Gina said after that. Audrey recognized the tone of disappointment in her girlfriend's voice. It did bother her, but not enough to stop her. She wouldn't allow Gina to tear her away from Emma. She wouldn't. 

 

"Yeah, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

 

"Alright,"

 

"I love you,"

 

"I love you too," and Audrey hung up. She did feel a little guilty, leaving Gina anger. But not enough to stop her. She scooped up her keys from her dresser and headed downstairs, pulling on a hoodie as she went. 

 

"Hey, where are you rushing off to?" Her dad called after her. She spun around. 

 

"I'm gonna go hang our with Em," she answered. He nodded. 

 

"Good, good. You two haven't been around each other much." He turned back to the television. Audrey assumed he had nothing else to say, and walked out the door. 

 

Emma was already ready for Audrey when she pulled up the driveway, and they both grinned as Audrey stopped the car and got out. 

 

"You're already outside," Audrey observed, pulling Emma into a tight hug. 

 

"Yeah, I decided to get ready a little early," Emma said, and Audrey opened the passenger door for the taller girl. 

 

__________________________________

 

That night was more fun than Audrey remembered having in a while. In fact, she almost forgot that they were being tormented once more by a psychotic killer. Almost. That looming sense of dread never fully left. Even though Audrey had the best time she'd had in a long time, she still felt as though they were being watched, and she stayed on high alert. 

 

The two of them laughed and joked and had dinner, then went back to the Duvals' and watched tv in the couch. Audrey thought maybe they were sitting a little too close, but she definitely appreciated the warmth and company. And allowed hers t to lay her head on Emma's lap. She closed her eyes as the other girl's fingered absentmindedly played with her hair. Audrey let it happen, and that may not have been good. She relished the feeling of Emma's fingers in her hair. Her mind couldn't stop thinking about how nice Emma smelled, and how nice it would be to kiss her right now. She felt guilty, but not nearly enough to stop her. Part of her didn't care. 

 

Neither of them noticed the hooded figure in the window.


	5. Chapter 5

"Audrey," Emma's voice beckons Audrey from her dream. "Audrey, wake up." 

Audrey's eyes open to see Emma laying on the other the side of the bed. Emma's arm was slung over Audrey's torso, and Audrey felt her face get warm. She didn't remember cuddling so closely. She remembered calling to tell her dad she was staying at Emma's house, after falling asleep on the other girl's shoulder on the couch. She remembered Emma pulling down the blankets on her bed for the two of them, and she remembered falling asleep with her head almost on Emma's pillow. She remembered being close, but she didn't remember Emma holding onto her like that. 

"Hey, we need to go to school. You slept through my alarm I had set," Emma said quietly. 

"O...kay, I'm . . . alright," Audrey replied. She could hardly keep her eyes open, but she knew she should make herself get up out of the bed. Emma's bed was so . . . warm . . . and soft . . . and comfortable . . . and she hadn't moved her arm yet, and Audrey was somehow okay with that. She didn't mind it . . . at all, actually. It was really nice, and Emma's skin was really soft. Audrey was almost back asleep when Emma pulled her arm away and said sharply. 

" _Audrey_ , you have to wake up." 

"Yes, I know, I'm awake," Audrey said, her voice groggy from sleep. She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. Emma shifted so that her feet were over the other side of the bed, and she went around to help Audrey up. 

"Come on," she said, hauling the shorter girl up by both arms. She led Audrey over to her closet and opened the door. 

"I still have one of your shirts in here somewhere," the blonde muttered while flipping through the clothes there. She was right, of course. Audrey actually saw several of her shirts in there, some of which she had been wondering where they were for a while. She took the shirt Emma offered her, and then sat down on the bed again. 

"I don't really want to get dressed," Audrey said quietly. 

"Well, you have to, or else I'll drag you to school in the same clothes you wore yesterday." Emma said. She had pulled an outfit out of her closet, and proceeded to start pulling off her shirt. Audrey's eyes snapped to Emma's torso without her thinking about it. Immediately she looked at the floor, scolding herself in her head for looking at her in that way. _You have a girlfriend, for one, and how dare you look at anyone that way when there's no reason to? _she thought. She didn't expect Emma to just start stripping right in front of her . . .__

____

"Okay, you have to change or I really will take you in those clothes." Emma told her. Audrey nodded. She got up and went into Emma's bathroom, not wanting to take off her shirt in front of the other girl. After they were both finished getting ready, they walked downstairs together and said good morning to Emma's mother. Maggie was sitting at the table drinking coffee, and she smiled when she saw the two girls walk into the kitchen. 

____

"Good morning girls," she said, and Audrey smiled back, replying with a "Good morning" that was only a little bit groggy. She knew that her voice was hoarse in the mornings, and sometimes her father laughed at her for it. He would tell her, "Good morning my little bear," and Audrey would just laugh. 

____

__Emma drove them both to school, and Audrey sleepily made it through class. Thank god, Noah brought her coffee. There was nothing Audrey was more thankful for that morning. The rest of the day went well, except for that one point in fourth period when Audrey swore she saw someone wearing that hellish mask, and she almost had a panic attack right there. She did a double take, and they were gone, but she could've sworn there was somebody outside the classroom window. Thank god, she was just imagining it. It's not like the person stalking them was going to show themselves right in front of everyone._ _

She was almost completely focused throughout the rest of the day. _Almost._ The one thing she couldn't force herself to pay attention to was her history class. It didn't exactly help that they were in the most boring part of their curriculum so far, and she allowed herself to seek refuge from complete boredom in her phone.

The first thing she saw on the screen was a text from Gina. She smiled a little, swiping the message to the side to reply 

Gina: _Hey._

Audrey: _Hey gorgeous (:_ There wasn't an immediate response, so Audrey unlocked her phone to check on anything that would distract her from American history. Anything. Coincidentally, she got a text from an unknown number as soon as she opened her messages. 

Unknown: _Hello, Audrey._

Audrey's heart jumped to her throat. This couldn't be them, could it? The person who was taunting them this time? She glanced around. She didn't see anyone else on their phone. What was happening? Who was this? It almost had to be the person who killed Kieran. Audrey swallowed hard, and typed out a response. 

Audrey: _Who are you? And what the hell do you want?_

Unknown: _Oh, don't worry. You'll find out. Just wait. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I can see you. Watch out._

Audrey: _What does that mean???_

Audrey: _What are you talking about?_

Audrey: _I will find out who you are._

_________________________________________________

The first thing she did after class was show Noah the texts, of course.

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this before?" Was his immediate response.

"I didn't want you to worry, for one, and two, you have a book to write!! I didn't think this was gonna get this extreme again- not really. Emma and I got rid of the You-Know-What and I thought we were safe." Audrey said. She didn't really believe that they were safe, but it was a nice lie to tell herself.

"Well, either way you should have told me. This is kind of a big deal. Who knows who this could be- how this could all play out now?"

"Noah, this is not the time. I told you because I felt like it could go downhill. It's going downhill, actually, and I wanted you to know before it got worse than it already is."

"Okay, alright."

Audrey had expected something else to happen, but she hoped that it wouldn't. There was no escaping this, apparently. This was her fate- reliving the same things over and over. Losing friends, family, watching people being murdered . . . being blamed for it all. There was no escape. She showed Emma next, and then Brooke. She assumed Stavo would be told by either Noah or Brooke, and there it was. They were all dragged into this hell _again._ There was no escape. 

That night, Audrey got home from work and told her dad goodnight. She didn't want to talk tonight. She didn't feel like she could without crying about something. She was tired, and stressed out, and terrified. She needed sleep, but knew she wouldn't end up getting any. She knew she would stay up all night, staring out her bedroom window waiting for that creep in the mask to show up again, and finally end this. Finally take her away from this.

She stopped herself right there. She didn't want to die, did she? No, she didn't. She hadn't for a while. She didn't. She turned on Netflix, pressing play on the first thing on her recently watched. She just wanted those thoughts out of her head. She had pressed play on Bones, which was fine, she just needed something to keep her mind away from itself. The noise was all she really needed- something to drown out her thoughts. She had almost drifted off to sleep when her phone rang beside her. The caller ID read "Unknown". Shit, really? Her heart rate went up immediately. What could it be now? She pressed the green button to answer- she knew better than to decline anything from someone like this. 

"Hello?" She tried not to show that she was scared. 

"Hello, Audrey."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you- to tell you some things . . . and ask you something."

Audrey stayed silent.

"I wanted to say that maybe you should watch out more. You weren't very careful today. Maybe I wasn't clear when I sent you that knife- You need to watch yourself. This isn't a game you can win. It never was. From the very beginning, you've been losing."

"What the hell does that mean? Piper is dead. So is Kieran."

"You know that I'm the one responsible for Kieran's death. Do you not think that there was a reason for that? You have no idea, do you?" There was a chuckle on the other line. "Well, that's okay. You'll find out soon enough. That's not why I called you. I wanted to make sure you knew that I'm the one in control. That I'm the person with your fate in my hands. So you have to do whatever I say, if you value your freedom, and your friends' lives."

"Yeah, you've made that one pretty damn clear,"

"Not yet I haven't. You don't know pain . . . you don't know understand suffering. Not yet, anyway. Heh, not yet. Anyway, now that you know how trapped you really are, let's start the game. All the pieces are in place, right? So let's begin. I'm taking my turn first, since I set everything up, and because I can."

Audrey kept silent. Whatever was about to happen, it couldn't be good. 

"Did Noah tell you what he found? He found it ages ago, so I'd certainly hope so. Especially since you showed him those texts."

"What? What do you mean? What did he find out? What are you talking about?"

"Tick Tock, Audrey . . . you're my little lab rat, and time's running out. You've got a head start now, so I'd start running."

The dial tone filled Audrey's ears. What did he mean? What did Noah find out? And how did he know she had shown Noah those messages? Her thoughts were all over the place, and she couldn't hardly concentrate. The only thing she knew was that she had to get to Noah and find out what he knew.


	6. Chapter 6

"Noah," Audrey almost yelled, struggling to keep up with him walking down the hallway. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "We need to talk . . . now."

Noah's face was filled with confusion, and Audrey knew that hers was filled with frustration and anger.

"Tell me what you know," Audrey demanded as soon as they were out of earshot. 

"What? Audrey, what do you mean?" Noah asked, and Audrey narrowed her eyes at him.

"I got a call last night. From the asshole that's started this again. They said that _you_ know something."  
Audrey jammed her finger into Noah's chest as she spoke, feeling angrier by the second. How could he keep something from her?? How could he, with what's happened? 

"Okay, okay, calm down. I don't know what you mean, but you need to chill out for a second and explain a little. They could be just doing this to set us against eachother. It wouldn't be the first time- unless you don't remember?" 

Audrey clenched her jaw and looked at her shoes. Of course she remembered; there was no way she couldn't. She suddenly felt ashamed and she ran her hand through her hair. _calm down_ she told herself.

"You're right- I just . . . I panicked. There's- just so much going on right now. I'm sorry," she said, and she meant it. She was relieved when Noah smiled weakly at her. There was a long silences and Noah wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

"Let's go to my house and talk," he said, and she let him lead her outside to the parking lot. 

________________________________________

 

"Okay, so, they called you and the sounded the same as before??"

"Exactly the same Noah– just like Piper; just like Kieran." Audrey huffs, spinning circles in Noah's desk chair. She leaned her head back, her arms hanging off the sides of the chair. "I don't need know . . . It's weird . . . Whoever it is, they've got a bone to pick with Em and I– they're targeting us. _Again._

"So wait, you said they sent a camera? Like a whole camera?" Noah asked. Audrey nodded, propping her feet up on his desk. 

"Yeah," she answered, staring straight ahead. "Just dropped it on my doorstep. They were literally right there. I was so close to them."

"Hey," Noah said, turning to her. "Don't start beating yourself up about this. Especially since it just started. If you do that, it'll end up horribly."

He was right, of course– she didn't want a repeat of last time. She still couldn't look herself in the mirror without something in her head whispering _"murderer." "Monster,"_ it taunted, _"You did this. It's your fault."_

"Yeah, yeah. I know– I just . . . I don't know." 

Noah moved to go sit on his bed, pushing Audrey's feet off of the edge of his desk as he went. She almost fell, but caught herself before her face slammed into the corner of the desk.

"I just can't think of who it could be," Noah said as he reached his bed. He sat down on the edge of it. "I mean, I couldn't before either– who could've guessed that? But, this time I don't even have any theories. There's nobody I suspect yet. _Yet_. There will be someone." 

"I know there will be," Audrey pushed herself up and leaned back in the chair again. She turned so that she was facing him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So about why I came in the first place," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. He shrugged. "I can't think of anything that I know that you don't. Literally– nothing." Audrey somehow didn't believe him. She felt bad for not believing him, but she didn't nonetheless. His behavior seemed like he didn't want to even think about the question she had posed, and that didn't make her doubt any less.

"I'll be right back," Noah said. He stood and walked out the door, and Audrey took that as her chance. Opening all of the drawers in the desk one at a time, she shuffled through everything. There were notes for the podcast, old pictures, school papers, all sorts of things; but no sign of anything suspicious. Throughout all of the drawers, she didn't find anything. Shit. Noah was right, the creep was trying to turn them against eachother. 

Audrey slammed the drawers closed and leaned back in the chair. How could she assume that Noah was lying like that? She was ashamed of herself. She knew perfectly well how it felt to be blamed for that kind of thing– she knew all too well. The feeling you get in the pit of yout stomach because _you know you're not lying,_ but nobody believes you. No, she refused to do that to him. She wouldn't. Sighing, she stood up and moved to the door. She needed to get home– her dad would be waiting. 

Opening the bedroom door, she was greeted by Noah standing there. 

"Looking for something?" He asked. Audrey felt her face go red. 

"No, no-" she started, but he interrupted her. 

"I know you were looking through my desk, Audrey."

"Okay, yes, I was, but-"

"But nothing. You don't trust me, do you?"

"Noah, I didn't say that. I just-"

"No. No, Audrey. Just . . . Just go home."

Noah stepped aside, allowing Audrey to pass. Her face was hot, and she pushed past him without looking up from the ground. She got into her car, taking off her jacket and flinging it into the passenger seat. She felt awful. As she drove home, she tried desperately to think of some way to make this okay. She couldn't believe herself. 

When she got home, she went straight to her room without speaking to her father. She had to call Emma; there was nobody else she wanted to speak to. 

As the line rang, she held her breath. Audrey didn't know how this was going to go- she didn't know how anything was going to go, actually. The amount of danger they were all in was substantial, and it scared her. They weren't safe - again- and she wasn't helping that. Emma answered with a chipper, 

"Hello?" 

"Em," Audrey said, her voice already shaky. "Em, I . . . I need help, I need you to help me." 

"Audrey, calm down, what is it? What's wrong?" Emma asked. Audrey took a deep breath. 

"I blamed Noah- I . . . I destroyed his trust, and I don't know what to do." 

"What? Audrey, you need to breathe. Talk to me. Slowly." 

"I got a call yesterday," Audrey shifted on her bed and took another breath. "From this dick who's taunting us."

"Okay," Emma replied. 

"He said that Noah knew something- I should've known that he was lying. Noah didn't know anything, Em, and I thought he did- I searched his desk, and he found me. He noticed– and I . . . I betrayed his trust, Emma. I don't know what to do." 

"Okay, alright, Audrey, it'll be alright. You'll be fine. Noah's alright. Hey, he loves you– you know he does. You were scared. There's nothing wrong with being scared. He thought you were behind it last time–"

"Yeah, Emma, Because I was. In case you didn't remember, it was my fault that all of that happened."

"Audrey, no it wasn't. We've talked about this. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. Emma, it was entirely my fault and-" she was interrupted by a tap on her window. 

She looked over, and standing there was him. Her- her whoever it was. The asshole in the mask. Audrey stood and moved toward the window. 

"Not this time, you prick," she said, and dropped her phone on the floor. She ripped open the window and reached out, but they grabbed her arm and twisted it. She groaned in pain, but stopped, standing still. 

"What do you want?" She demanded through clenched teeth. She knew better than to be too loud, because her father was downstairs. 

"Audrey, you know what I want: results. What did Noah tell you? Did you get your hint?" The voice was distorted even now– the voice changer must have been attached to the mask. 

"Fuck off, I know you were lying. Noah doesn't know anything."

"He lied," the creep said, letting go of Audrey's arm. "Don't worry, I'll get you that information somehow. He doesn't have to tell you. You can't trust anyone, Audrey." 

With that, they turned and walked away from the window. Audrey just stood there, completely frozen. What the hell was happening to them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm really sorry for leaving this for so long!! I've been really busy and I've literally written one and a half oneshots the past month and that's it. I re-read this the other night looking for inspiration and I found it! I just love this storyline so much and I'm so glad that I started it. I haven't edited this chapter yet– I figured I would proofread sometime later since I'm writing on my phone \:


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated!! I hope you will all still read it- I'm not finished, just easily distracted and busy. I still love what I was going to do with this fic. I still intend to finish it, and hope to give closure to anyone who's as disappointed in the reboot as I am. I am renaming the fic, because I decided that I didn't like the original title. I hope you guys don't mind!

Audrey rushed back to her phone and scooped it up off the floor, holding it back to her ear. 

"Em? You still there?" she spoke, glancing back at her window. The masked person wasn't there any more, but to be safe, she dragged her desk chair over next to the window and sat down. 

"I'm still here," Emma answered, her voice full of concern, "what happened?"

"They showed up _again_ , Emma. At my house. While my dad is here. They said-- they said that Noah has something. They said it again. If he really doesn't know, then why are they so insistent that he does?" she leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. 

“Audrey, you know how this works—how it worked last time. They’re trying to get you ntostop trusting him.”

Maybe Emma was right. Maybe they were just trying their hardest to force them apart. But then, why would they _keep_ trying like this? Why wouldn’t they just drop it after the first time? _There must be something,_ Audrey thought, _something we wouldn’t think of as significant._ But what could it be? Something that easily went unnoticed—they had to already know whatever it was. Still perched in front of the window, Audrey scanned the lawn below her. There was no one there. They must have jumped off and made a run for it. Audrey glanced down at her forearm, which was still sore. There were marks shaped like fingers, red and already beginning to darken and bruise. Long sleeves were going to be needed tomorrow.

“You’re right,” Audrey replied, lining her own fingers up with the red marks. “You’re right,” she exhaled. “I need to calm down—I need to think for a minute.”

“Never mind all of that—are you okay? The killer—you’re sure they left?” Emma asked.

“I’m alright—I think. I haven’t—they’re definitely gone.” Audrey answered. This wasn’t going to happen, she decided. Whoever this was, they weren’t going to win. They couldn’t separate them this time. She was going to fix what she had done to Noah—she was _going_ to regain his trust. Otherwise, whoever this was . . . they would win. 

Gaining Noah’s trust back proved much more difficult than Audrey had expected. Granted, she didn’t expect it to be easy at all, but she did think it would be easier than this. Noah would hardly look at her now, let alone talk to her. He and Gustavo were still as close as ever, though, and the way that they glared at her gave her flashbacks to earlier in school. Of course, then Noah was sitting with her instead of against her, assuring her that the people glaring at her had no reason to do so. Now, he was the one giving her angry side glances, and this time, she knew that he had a reason—a god reason. 

It wasn’t _just_ the fact that Noah wasn’t speaking to her, though. That was hard enough. No, now she was dealing with Gina insisting that she had to spend more time with her, simply because she had been hanging out with Emma more often. Apparently, this made Gina even _more_ jealous. So, naturally, if Audrey was spending time with Emma, she had to spend more time with Gina. Now, this wasn’t a terrible thing at all. Of course, she had school and work (Which sometimes counted for being with Gina, if they had the same shift). By the time she got home every night, she was rather tired. And the worst part? She couldn’t even talk to Noah about it. In short, there was too much stress going on, and that wasn’t even considering the fact that another maniacal killer was on the loose tormenting them. 

Audrey was extremely worried about the fact that she couldn’t get ahold of Noah even if she tried—she couldn’t check on him, couldn’t reach him if something happened. That was probably what bothered her most of all—the fact that, in an emergency, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to reach him. All because of a stupid suspicion she had based on things that were told to her by a murderer. 

An opportunity to regain Noah’s trust came two weeks after the incident at the window. Nothing had happened concerning the killer since then, and Audrey kept expecting them to kill someone every day. But after a complete two weeks of nothing from the killer, they called Audrey again. This time, it was in broad daylight, right after Audrey got out of her math class. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and when she saw the word ‘unknown’ displayed on the screen, her heart stopped. She didn’t know where exactly she could go to answer it where nobody would overhear, so she went into the bathroom and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” she blurted into the speaker, looking around and then deciding to move the trash can in front of the door. It was a large metal one, so it would have blocked the door pretty well, at least. 

“Hello, Audrey,” the voice came out right next to her ear drum. She nearly flinchd when she heard it, rushing to the nearest stall and locking it behind her. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

“What do you want now?” she lowered her voice to a whisper, not wanting anyone to hear her talking in the bathroom that no one could get into. 

“I want to discuss something with you, Audrey. Something that’s very important. Something you _really_ need to understand.” The fact that they were dancing around what they were going to say sent a chill down Audrey’s spine. Something bad was about to happen.

“Just get to the point, creep,” she spat, clenching her fist at her side. She was trying her hardest to maintain a calm tone, but couldn’t. Her voice shook with her hands. Her mind was racing—what could she do besides listen to this murderer taunt her? 

“You need to know not to test me, Audrey, and I was trying my hardest to figure out how to send that message. I was actually about to decide, when I remembered, this is a game. And even I have to play by the rules.” The killer’s voice trembled, like they were getting over excited to announce what was coming next in their horrific game. “So we’re just going to move on. Let’s see how else I can make my monkey dance . . . 

“Someone in the school has that information you need from Noah. Who that person is, you get to figure out. If you don’t find it in two hours, someone else is going to get it. Otherwise, everything will be fine. You’ll get the information you need to continue, and the one who I’ve got in mind gets to live. I would have just given you the information easily, but for one, you seemed to not quite understand how _important_ the information is, and for two, you obviously needed more motivation to cooperate. So, you have two hours. Tick tock, Audrey . . . time’s running out already.” The line went silent, and Audrey noticed that her breathing was heavy. She clenched and unclenched her jaw, trying to think. Who would have that information? Who would the killer have in mind to kill? There was hardly anyone left.

 _Think, Audrey, you idiot. Who would have that information?_ She thought. Who would have it? She burst out of the bathroom door and rushed down the hallway, her mind racing frantically. She had to get that information, or someone else would die. And she would be responsible again. No, that wasn’t going to happen. She looked at every single person as she passed them. Nobody seemed to be hiding anything, and Audrey couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. Either whoever had it was completely unaware that they did, or nobody had it. But they had to—someone had to have it. 

Eyes scanning every single person in the hall, Audrey continued her path towards her next class. She couldn’t be caught doing anything suspicious, and if she was given two hours, the killer didn’t exactly expect her to find it immediately. Luckily, Brooke was in her next class. As soon as Audrey sat down, Brooke knew something was wrong. 

“What’s going on?” she asked, a look of worry on her face. 

“I’ll tell you after class,” Audrey muttered, glancing around at everyone else in the classroom. “Hey, where’s Stavo? And Noah? I haven’t seen them.” Brooke shrugged. 

“Stavo said they were gonna work on book stuff this afternoon, so probably at Noah’s,” she said. Audrey took a breath. At least they were out of the way. They couldn’t get hurt. She glanced around the room again—still, no one seemed to have anything suspicious. No one was looking at her, no one looked as though they had information from the killer. 

The class period went by agonizingly slowly. Listening to the teacher drone on and on about the fact that in contrast to most beliefs, the Romans did not just kill those who had . . . Blah, blah, blah. This wasn't even what they were learning about—the teacher was simply fired up over a comment made by Daniel Penton, and now Audrey was staring out the window. How could she be just waiting in a classroom while another person was in danger? And of her own fault, too. 

Emma was supposed to be in chemistry right now, but that didn’t mean anything. What if _she_ was the one the killer had in mind? Audrey looked quickly at the clock—it read 11:42. Eight more minutes, then she could find Emma and tell her and Brooke what was happening. Then, the three of them could look together for the person holding the information. But wait. Would that be a good idea? Involving the two of them could potentially put them in danger, and Audrey didn’t want to do that. No, she would have to find this on her own. 

After the bell finally rang, Audrey leapt up, told Brooke that she would meet her and Emma later, and exited the classroom. Whoever it was that mad this information would be there for lunch—otherwise, the killer wouldn’t have said two hours instead of less than that, right? So, she headed to the cafeteria to look. What exactly she was looking _for_ , she wasn’t sure, but she had to start somewhere. 

Though she didn’t outright notice anything, she did sit and watch everyone in the large room for a time. She ended up eventually standing up and walking out, because there seemed to be nothing there. Looking at the time, it was now 12:13, and there was no sign of this person who had what she needed. There was less than an hour left, and she had nothing. Just as she looked up, though, she noticed someone staring at her from the other end of the hallway—Connor Wilkes, a greasy boy the same age as herself. He was quiet, and rather annoying when he did happen to speak. As Audrey stared back at him, he looked away quickly, down at his feet. The small possibility of Connor having something was enough for Audrey, so she quickly made her way down the hall towards him. 

The closer Audrey got, the more discomfort showed on his face, and he turned left down the hall as she reached the end. This made her even more suspicious of him than she already was, so she followed him on his way down the second hallway, and he turned into an empty classroom. Audrey stopped as he did this, taking a breath. Whatever was happening right now, if Connor tried to attack her, she had to be ready. She took a second to compose herself, and then followed Connor into the classroom. 

The lights were all off, and Connor was standing behind the teacher’s desk in the front of the room. His backpack had been placed on top of it, and he was shuffling through the contents inside. Audrey slowly approached the opposite side of the desk. 

“Connor,” she spoke, and he didn’t show any signs of hearing her, just kept ruffling papers in his bag. “Connor, what are you doing?” Audrey asked. She willed herself to keep calm, not to get angry at his lack of response. Conner simply gathered a few papers inside a folder, set them down on the desk, and zipping up his backpack, walked out of the room in silence. Cautiously, Audrey picked up the folder, which had a sticky note on it that read, in messy handwriting:

_“He told me to give this to you—sorry.”_

Audrey gulped. This was exactly what she was looking for, wasn’t it? She flipped open the folder, and saw a page of logs of some sort. She walked to the other side of the desk and sat down, placing the folder down and taking out the pages one by one. There was a picture of two blurred people standing in the lobby of a motel, and several separate logs from what she assumed was that same motel. The one that got her attention, though, was one that had only two names on it, and underneath, _"GOTCHA!!!"_ scrawled in red pen. The names were ones that she didn’t expect to see again . . . at least not purposely. The first signature read _“Kevin Duval”_. Audrey clenched her jaw at this, What the hell would he be doing back here? There wasn't any reason that Audrey could think of. Especially after the last time he was here. She breathed deeply, and her eyes trailed down to the second signature on the paper. 

Her blood ran cold at the sight of it, written in large, loopy handwriting. The name of a dead man—the name that haunted her every day of her life. The name that she never, ever wanted to see again. Written underneath Kevin Duval’s name, neatly inside the provided space, was the name Brandon James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who do y'all think is the killer? Comment who you think it is, and thank you So Much for reading!! I'll update as soon as I can, Promise.


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